Tuesday, April 1, 2014

An Ras Mor 5k

USATF NE 5km championship

I got my MRI results back on Monday morning and was able to
get out of the boot.The TA ligament
was intact, however the Deltoid ligament was strained and I had some
tenosynovitis in a few ligaments in the ankle.I got a new ankle brace and started taking some stronger
anti-inflammatory drugs along with icing and ultrasound.I ran a creaky slow 5 miles on Monday, a
little less creaky and a little quicker 5 on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I
felt pretty good running right around 7:00 pace for 5 miles.CMS team manager Jim Pawlicki had already
entered me in the 5k, so on Thursday I decided I’d go to support the team.My plan was to run through and make sure we
had a full senior (age 50-59) team.By
Saturday I was feeling good enough to truly test my ankle and felt that I might
be able to manage a sub 18 5k.

Sunday morning featured pouring rain and upper 30’s for
temperatures, not exactly ideal for a 5km race.Dan Verrington and I headed out to Cambridge extra early to make
sure we’d be able to find some parking.I hate city races!It was rainy
and cold but there wasn’t much wind and once you got moving it wasn’t too bad
out there.A bunch of the CMS gang
gathered and I brought the course map with me as we hit the course for a
warm-up.Good thing I brought the map,
there were no course markings and it wasn’t the easiest to find our way
around.The good thing about the rain
was that there weren’t a lot of pedestrians so we were able to run safely on
the sidewalk.The course seemed pretty
decent with it going gently uphill for the first mile then a little downhill
and basically flat after that.

I was feeling pretty good after the warm-up, may ankle
didn’t hurt all that much and I switched into racing flats (which were a bit
tight with the ankle brace).I added
another half-mile of running with a couple of pick-ups.Man, it felt weird.I really haven’t done any speed and this was
awfully early in the year to be bashing out a 5k.I got to the line with 3 minutes to spare and set myself up in
the 5th row.That’d be about
100th place which seemed about right (based on previous USATF NE 5k
results).

The gun went off and there was a little hesitation as people
tentatively headed out on the slick road.It took me a couple of seconds to cross the line but I had clear running
right away as everyone headed left for the first turn.I settled into a comfortable pace right
away.Teammate Tim Van Orden was
testing his fitness and we ended up striding along up Mass Ave. together.Al Bernier rolled on by with a hearty
“Cayuga” shout which cracked me up.Around ½ mile in Dan caught up after his typical slower start.I zeroed in on him and the three of us
continued chugging along together.Soon
after teammate Jason Porter flew by, I thought he must have missed the start!

We reached the mile mark in 5:38, although the gal at the
mile mark shouted out 5:16.A few
people without watches may have been unpleasantly surprised by how much they
“slowed” in the second mile.I felt
really good at the mile and tried to pick up the pace.I slowly reeled in a couple of fast starters
and was pleased that no one was passing me.

I hit 2 miles in 11:12 (5:34) and tried to maintain
momentum.I felt good but my legs just
wouldn’t turn over any faster.I
checked my watch and it was 3 minutes since the 2 mile mark.That meant a half mile to go, so I tried to
up the tempo.About that time people
started cheering for “Terry”.I knew it
had to be Terry McNatt (longtime CSU runner) and he always has a strong
kick.Sure enough, right at the 3 mile
mark (16:48/5:36) he went flying by.I
did my best to go with him and he dragged me along to a 32.8 for the last .1.My chip time of 17:20.8 sits as my Senior
PR, but I hope to take big chunks off of that over the coming months and years.

The CMS 50+ team scored its first points since 2010 taking
fifth place.I’m looking forward to us
fielding teams at the remaining Grand Prix races!